The Sign of the Shooting Star
In memory of my cat, Kitty, who is Scarlet in this story. Let her die in peace. Many cats say- "Follow your heart." "Follow your dreams." "You'll find your destiny if you do these things." But if you can't, find them. Your life will become your destiny. As long as you follow the shooting star. Prologue Why? A question. A common question. So many answers. But- The answers depend on why ''you are asking why. Why did Brokenstar die? Because Yellowfang gave him deathberries. Why does Cloudtail love Brightheart? Because they were meant for each other. That's StarClan's decision. But no one can answer ''my ''why. Why did StarClan abandon me? Chapter One My eyes opened. The coolness of the night stung my fur. Why was I awake? I always woke at dawn, along with Fang, Todd, and Owl. We were supposed to leave each other today. And leave Ma. ''Oh. I remember. As soon as the moon hit highest, we reached our twelfth moon. If we lived together, Ice would kill us. We would've broken BloodClan code. Fang was jumping for joy last night. He said he would hunt on his own. He said he would aim to be Ice's ally. He said he would be BloodClan's best leader, better than Scourge. He shouldn't have said that. I hate ''Fang. Not that stupid brotherly hate. Real hate. When you want to burn him into a million pieces and stomp on the ashes and laugh. So, whenever he does something I can't forgive, I'm going to tell Ice what he said. He won't ever know ''my flaw; I believe in StarClan. Like the forest cats. The elders talk about them. They said that they give the living cats Omens, and the cats force the Omen to work out into real life. They claim our ancestors aren't somewhere. Just sitting in a star, bored out of their mind. I wonder how they made that up. Maybe it must have been dawn; Ma woke and started screaming for us to get out. "Fang, Todd, Owl, Scarlet, out!!!" Her cold pads slammed against my fur and I felt claws dig into my flesh. I yowled and leaped to my paws. I dashed out of the den, blood streaking down my white chest. I felt Owl's clumsy paws tread on mine from behind. He hissed. "Hurry up! She's gonna kill us!" He sped up and moved beside me. I thought he was saying a last goodbye, but his giant paw slashed my eye, cheek, and ear. The left side of my face was smeared in blood. The left side of my face would never work again. Chapter Two I lay in my den. It wasn't really a den, just the inside of an old trash can. No Twolegs use it anymore, because it stinks like crow-food. When I saw it, I thought it as home. When I smelled it, I left. I went to the farthest end of Twolegplace, got some pine leaves, smothered them in sap, and went all the way back to the trash can. I placed the leaves on the inside, and it smelled wonderful. But it wears off. So now, every few weeks, I have to get more leaves. I heard noise from outside. I leaped out of the can. It was Todd! He was my favorite brother. His jet black pelt was covered in blood. "What happ-" I started to say. "Shut up, Scarlet!" he growled. I flinched. This wasn't the brother I'' knew. His claws were longer than I remember. ''Well, we were thrown out three moons ago. Probably a growth spurt. ''I thought. He murmured something, then I snapped back into reality. His amber eyes were soft now, but his pelt was fluffed up and his claws were still unsheathed. "Sorry, Sis, I was just attacked. You need to come to my home. My mate is expecting, and I need help finding the right herbs." I nodded, but on the inside, I was shocked. "''A mate?! It has only been three moons!" I shrieked. His pelt lay flat now. "I know, I know. Remember when I used to sneak out of the den? I was meeting her. Her name is Elicia." *** Me and Todd were shadows in the night. The moon was a crescent, representing a sliver of hope for having a good life. "Todd?" I asked. He kept walking. "Todd?" Ugh. No answer. "Todd? Brother? Hello?!" He turned his head. "Yes?" "I kept calling your name, if you haven't noticed!" His face became worried. "Oh, sorry. What do you need?" I became calm. "How do you think Fang and Owl turned out?" He had a confused expression. "Fang and who?" "Owl, our brother, the big brown tabby with yellow eyes!" "Oh. Um...I-I think they're fine." "What's up with you?" "Nothing. Just nervous about Elicia." *** "Just around this corner." Todd whispered. I saw light protruding from the other side of the corner. When we turned, I saw a beautiful gray dappled she-cat with stunning blue eyes. Beside her- was Fang and Owl. "Fang!" I pretended to be happy. "Owl!" This was real happiness. I expected a little more of a reaction, but their eyes were alert and their teeth were bared. "I'm not Owl," my no-named brother rumbled. "I am Bruno." "T-Tod-d-d?" I was trembling now. His teeth were also bared. "Draco." he growled. I looked at Fang. He shook his head. His name did not change. I was wondering what had happened to Bruno, Fang, and Draco when I saw what Bruno and Fang were wearing. Teeth-studded collars. Chapter Three Draco was not wearing a collar. But his mate was. Elicia had a bright red collar and tons of claws and teeth on it. She didn't need herbs; lie number one. She wasn't expecting; lie number two. They didn't look at each other with love or even a normal gaze. They glanced at each other with hatred. So they weren't mates; lie number three. The light was coming from the cafe. No one ever went to the entrance, so all the cats were in the back. I froze. All the cats with high power lived behind the cafe. My brothers were obviously high power. Ice must live here, too. Wherever Ice was, there was trouble. I saw the long-haired white cat step out from under the dumpster. He had a black chest and black paws. His eyes were ice-blue. I see where he got his name. "Well, well." he laughed. "Isn't it the runt of Sun's litter?" "Sun?" I asked. "Your Ma," he growled. I suspected he had anger management issues. "We all know the rules." Suddenly Bruno, Fang, and Elicia had blank expressions on their faces and they spoke in unison. "The youngest she-cat in a litter belonging to a queen that had two or more litters of three or more kits is considered as an Unmentionable. If there is no she-cat, the smallest, scrawniest tom with no skill whatsoever will be the family Unmentionable." Draco just stood there, with a serious expression on his face, same as Ice's. Ice looked over to him. "Ah, Draco, you had just received your new name last week, and you get your collar today. You, son, are strong." He padded to the dumpster, snatched a blue collar with his teeth, and handed it to Draco. "Go to a Twoleg's front door, meow, and when they come out, grab the collar with your teeth. They'll get it on for you." Draco pranced off, happy, while I stood here, small and helpless. Ice was charming, for an evildoer. "You may speak." he said slowly. "What is an Unmentionable?" I asked softly. "Louder," Ice hissed. "What is an Unmentionable?!" I screamed. "Good, good. You're an easy one." he murmured. "An Unmentionable is a cat who can't afford to live with us, because of space issues. You can't live in BloodClan territory anymore." Chapter Four "What?! This is my home!" I shrieked. Ice chuckled. "That's what they all say. I'll escort you to the Unmentionable territory. You probably won't see me again, or any of us, for this matter." *** I was alone with Ice. It felt awkward. If he hurt me, he would be disgraced for hurting a cripple. (See Chapter One) My left eye barley even worked. I couldn't move it, but I could see through it. "Here we are." Ice meowed. A fenced in area was about twelve feet away. "Can we get closer?" I asked. "No," Ice growled. "Unmentionable territory starts about here." His tail flicked to an invisible line. I placed my paw on the line. Ice walked away. I stared at the gate to the inside of the fence. It was one of those metal fences. I relaxed and walked to the gate. My eyes peered through the diamond-shaped metal. There were six cats, too dark to tell what color pelts they had. I nudged the gate open, and of course, it creaked. Chapter Five "Who goes there?" "Shh, Fresno, it could be Ice!" "Ice knows there's a boundary. He won't even look at us." "Emmett, go see who it is." The biggest cat had an annoyed expression. "That will be the first and last thing you ever tell me to do. I'm the leader." He padded over to the gate. "Who goes there?" I gulped. "Scarlet, Sun's Unmentionable." I carefully recited the words Ice instructed me to say. Emmett nodded. He stepped out of the way, a motion for letting me in. He closed the gate. "Sun's!" he announced. He padded closer to me and licked me on the head. I saw what color he was. He was gray with black, swirly stripes. "I'll introduce you to everyone." he mewed. He pointed to a golden tabby tom. "That's Fresno." He pointed to a dark brown she-cat. "This is Ashley." He pointed to a dark gray tabby she-cat. "That's Jessie. The pale gray one with the white chest is Flo, and the black one with the white tuft of fur is Phantom. Everyone, this is Scarlet!" *** We all sat in a circle, each of us with a mouse. "Say, where did you get this?" I asked, chewing the delicious snack. "The forest." Emmett said proudly. I swallowed. "T-the forest?" Emmett nodded. "Isn't that breaking the rules?" I asked. "Well, yeah, but if we eat the rats here we'll all die of sickness." he rumbled through a mouthful. "So, Scarlet, were you expecting being one of us?" Flo asked. "They left me alone for three moons," I replied. "If I was going to be in any trouble, I expected it would be as soon as I left my Ma that I would be caught." "Well, they give the Unmentionables three grace moons to live in BloodClan. Ice doesn't keep up with each family. In fact, it is one of the rules that at least the oldest kit must become one of The Force." "Really? I thought The Force was made up of Ice and....uh...Snake?" "Yeah, Snake. Barley the loner's brother. Ice is also his brother. And, no, it's not made up of just those two," Flo went on. "My brothers, Arni and Azure, became The Force. Ice changed their names to Hades and Bull." "My brothers and sister, too!" Jessie commented. "John, Dan, and Sheila. John became Brock, Dan became Lion, and Sheila stayed Sheila." "My brother, Jasper. His name stuck." Emmett mewed. "My brother's name was Ember." Fresno whispered. "He was one of Ice's favorites. When he found out that I was the Unmentionable instead of my mental brother, Elroy, Ice killed him." We were all silent. I spoke up. "Phantom, what about your family?" The large tuft of fur on his head covered his eye. "They died of malnourishment." he said in a monotone. "I was Ice's only son. But he didn't want any children, because love made him seem weaker. So he said I was the youngest, even though I was the oldest. Everybody envied him for following the rules even for his own son." His voice was spiked with sadness. "That's okay," I soothed as I licked his cheek playfully. "You have us now." Then his eyes sparkled with hope. Chapter Six "I have a plan," Fresno announced that morning. "Whatever it is, we are ''not ''stealing from the ice cream truck again." Emmett said. He was lying down, his tail rubbing over his stomach. Fresno gave him a dirty look. "No," he retorted. "You know the hole that we go in and out of to hunt?" Everyone nodded. "Well, we could sneak out. My mate and I made up the plan." "You have a ''mate?!" I yowled, feeling deja vu from Chapter Two. He nodded. "I've been meeting her in the forest. So, what do you think of the plan?" "Wonderful." Emmett rumbled. Fresno looked at him, confused. He shrugged a heartbeat later. "Emmett agreed." Fresno bragged. Everyone did agree, including me. "When do we leave?" Jessie asked. "At sunhigh, tomorrow." She shrugged. Emmett nodded. "It is decided!" he declared. "Wait," I mewed. "Doesn't Ice ever check on us?" Everyone looked at Emmett. "Yes," he said suspiciously. He glanced at Fresno. "He only checks on us on Fridays. Today is Saturday." Everyone looked back at Emmett. "So we'll be on the run?" he asked Fresno. "I guess." he meowed. "Excellent. We leave tomorrow." A shooting star crossed the sky. I wished that we would be safe. Wherever we misfits were going. ''(Look out for the next fanfic, On the Run)